MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

8/3 Dempster’s message

Ryan Dempster said goodbye to the Cubs and Chicago area fans in a full page ad in the Chicago Tribune on Friday. Here’s his message:

Thank you Chicagoland!

Thank you for welcoming me, my family and the Dempster Family Foundation with open arms. Your support over the years means the world to us. We will always have fond memories of our years in Chicago.

A special thanks to the Ricketts family, the Chicago Cubs organization and my teammates — past and present — for their support over the years as a member of one of the greatest sports franchises in the world.

Although I will be playing baseball in another city, our Foundation remains committed to our mission here, and we look forward to being a part of this community for years to come.

Chicago has always been my kind of town.

Ryan Dempster

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29 Comments

That’s nice. Dempster has a lot to be thankful for during his extremley well paid (some may say overly paid) stay with our beloved team. We fans however do not have much to be thankful to Dempster. I wonder if he sent Jim Hendry a box of chocolates along with a note reminding Hendry of his soon to be free agency?

Give the guy a break. He was looking out after himself and his family. Did he handle it the best? Perhaps not, but if we take him at his word, he never rejected the deal..just wanted more time. Sounds more like the Braves were unwilling to wait. My guess is that they also immediately realized (or fans let them know) how much they were giving up for Demp, and this was an out. In any event, Vizcaino and Villanueva look like legit prospects, so I am hopeful for the future.

Get real. If you are not thankful to Dempster because Hendry paid him too much then that is ignorant and pure stupidity. Be angry with Hendry, that Jackwagon would pay a bat boy millions of dollars.

Dempster is a class act, great role model, solid pitcher, and the type of veteran I would want on my team. In my opinion, I am very grateful for his years in Chicago and would love to him back in a Cubs uniform in the future (if the team can figure out how to back up his great pitching with some run support.) He enjoys the game of baseball and is a fan favorite for a reason. I remember during batting practice in ’05 or ’06, he was conversing with fans in the bleachers while spraying the fans down with water to keep them cool on that hot afternoon. Who does that?

Having watched Ryan Dempster for years, starting with Cincinnati, and his struggles to overcome a variety of challenges, he is a class individual who obviously has a strong work ethic. He is also loyal; you cannot take a situation where his team wants to trade him and put any sort of onus on Mr. Dempster. It was best for the future of the Cubs and his teammates.

First of all I am not ANGRY with Dempster at all, just not thankful to him and I think it stupid and ignoramt to assume anybody is ANGRY based on a difference of opinion. Comment based on talent not how nice he was to the fans or how classy a guy he was/is which I have no reason to doubt he is both. He did not mean as much to the organization as the organization meant to him nor does the organization or us fans need to express as much gratitude to Dempster as he does to the organization. No matter what Hendry paid him (who cares?) he was never near a great pitcher and never acheived greatness with the Cubs. He was simply paid EXTREMLEY well for services rendered, and I am glad he used some of his great wealth to place an ad expressing his gratitude,I suppose that makes him a classy guy, not a great pitcher.
I’m glad we received something for him before he returns to earth as he showed signs of doing in his first start for Texas. I also wish him well…because…why not??
I wish Jim Hendry well too, I suppose another classy guy but not a great GM.

maybe you should let the organization and other Cub fan individuals speak for themselves. I’m sure a lot of people inside and out of the organization have different feelings about Dempster’s qualities. Also, this is just me, but regardless of how good they are, I’d rather not have a team full of talented a-holes. I would rather sit and watch a team full of Dempsters than a team of Pierzynskis, but than I find joy in baseball, not just winning.

How am I NOT LETTING anybody speak for themselves? What exactly are you doing by commenting? Speaking for yourself? How original. I was unaware that my commenting even with the reference “us fans” would prevent anybody from commenting themselves. Point proven, this is all about opinions which we are ALL entitled and never would I be presume to state I SPEAK FOR the orginization or fans. Great to see you speaking for yourslef Jerry, nice work….speaking for myself that is, somebody else may not think it nice work but that is for them to decide. There may be one or two other fans out there that do not think Dempster was as GOOD A PITCHER as you do. Nor did I ever mention I would prefer any type of a-holes on the Cubs…however…you bring up an interesting point…would a Cub team of World Series winning a-holes be acceptable? (After all I think it was Pierzynski that one a World Series…nearby…)Because certainly a Cub team of classy, nice Dempsters would not be enough to win a World Series. Hmmmm….something to think about at least

1 – Ryan failed to get a World Series title for the Cubs
2 – This ad is a tax write off for Ryan’s Foundation
3 – Ryan cost us Atlanta’s Delgado for stomping his foot to go to L.A.
4 – Ryan took the #3 team on his trade list, and went to Texas so he would not hear the boos on Tuesday night.
5 – Ryan Dempster will be the furthest from our minds when we do win a World Series title.

Agree with DC. Loney’s grand slam off Dempster was the blow that did us in in 2008. I’m beginning to doubt the Cubs will win in my lifetime, so give me a-holes who can win over a team full of Dempsters.

THANK YOU RYAN DEMPSTER FOR BEING A GREAT CUB. THANK YOU FOR
BEING A CLASSY GUY AND FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE ON AND OFF THE
FIELD. I HAVE ENJOYED WATCHING YOU AND HOPE YOU WILL HAVE THE
BEST OF THE BEST TIMES IN TEXAS.

I REALLY WISH PEOPLE WOULD STOP RIDING ME FOR USING CAPS.
YESTERDAY SOMEONE ACCUSED ME OF SCREAMING MY POSTS BY USING
CAPS. I WILL SAY ONE MORE TIME – I HAVE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND
THE CAPS HELP ME SEE BETTER. PLEASE EVERYONE STOP ACCUSING ME
OF SCREAMING OR ANYTHING ELSE FOR USING CAPS. THANKS.

hey White, not sure if you knew, just fyi, you can zoom in on the screen if your mouse has a wheel button in the center, you can hold the ‘Ctrl’ key and scroll the mouse wheel up or down to zoom in or out. My gramps needed to do the same for his cataract.

I THOUGHT IT A GREAT IDEA WHITE, THANKING DEMPSTER IN ALL CAPS. AKIN TO A NEWSPAPER AD….WHY DID YOU READ ANY CRITICISM? DID YOU ASSUME I THOUGHT YOU WERE SCREAMING? I really wish people would stop assuming I am riding them for using all caps. AM I SCREAMING NOW?
I AM NOT, I ASSURE YOU. I RESPECT YOUR RIGHT TO EXPRESS YOUR OPINION as WELL as USING all CAPS when YOU see FIT. IT’S A BLOG, not AN iNqUiSiTiOn.

NO OFFENSE TAKEN, JOEY. i LOVE READING IT ALL TOO. i AM A 76 YR OLD LADY
WHO HAS SEEN IT ALL. HAVE HAD COMMUNIST MACHINE GUNS AIMED AT ME,
HAVE SURVIVED HURRICANES AT SEA, ETC ETC. SO EVERY DAY I CAN WATCH
THE CUBS IS A BLESSING AND LET’S KEEP GIVING OUR MANY OPINIONS ABOUT
THE PLAYERS, THE GAME. LOVE IT ALL. YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY,TOO.

Ryan Dempster is a class act. It is amazing to listen to people criticize an athlete
For making too much money. Any of us would accept all the money we could get from our jobs whether we earned it or not. I personally think he earned every penny of what he got paid. I wish him all the luck in the world. I hope the Cubs resign him next year.

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